On The Edge of Fantasy
by Kore wa watashi
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto dreams just like any other person. But his dreams are a tad too real, dangerous and overall illogical; mostly because whenever he sleeps, he would always end up in a mythical land of fantasy which is Gensokyo itself. Story fate is unknown, need major help to follow the lore.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING!**

 **This is just a test story and I may remove this from the archives if I deem that it is not desirable or if I have lost the motivation to continue it. So please continue to show your support by giving this story your favorites and follows. Please tell me if you want to see this story becoming a permanent one by reviewing, other than that, same rule as usual.**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto dreamt. However, there was one major thing that made his dreams so different to others out there. Unlike others, who may or may not be aware of their dreams, who may or may not remember their dreams when they woke up the next morning and who may or may not enjoy their dreams… he, on the other hand, was forced to live his dreams, remember them and deal with them whether he wanted it or not. He never told a single soul about this condition of his, not even the Hokage who is like family to him, and not even the Ichiraku father and daughter. Most importantly, he did not even tell his teacher Iruka about this.

Maybe it was because he did not want them to know in the first place or maybe it was because he was afraid of them getting the idea if he was crazy or not… maybe both. However, in reality, he simply did not want people to know his dreams. He did not want people to know about the stuffs he dreamt about every damn night. Yes, every night. It was a futile thing to resist the urge to not dream; he did not know that it was possible to not dream in the first place! Every night, whenever he slept, his dream _will_ happen.

At first, it was scary. He woke up in a forest, dark and always night. There were stars in his dreams, just like there were stars in the real world. There was the moon and everything felt so real. Then it started to get worse, at first, it was just the feeling; then came the real deal. Monsters. Monsters… yes, monsters. What better way to describe them? Some came in beast like forms, while others were like ghosts; intangible even invisible at most times. After many times of dreaming the same thing, ending up in the same damned forest, encountering demons or monsters like creatures, he came to realize that this was not just a dream.

This was as real as reality.

Yes… he had gone mad! Him! A ten year old boy, who had not even graduated from the academy, had gone mad! Now he knew why people out there called him a freak… but was he the one at fault here? Because if one were to give it a real thinking, he was some sort of victim to this weird condition, right? He never asked for this?

And that was when he realized, not all choices required choosing.

* * *

When Uzumaki Naruto met Hakurei Reimu, he was being chased by a horde of monsters in the dark of the night. He remembered the scene of him being saved by the unsociable girl quite well, after all, it was a rather 'hard to forget' moment. It was night, as always, and he had realized that he was dreaming at that time. He, being used to the misfortunate situation he had been put with unwillingly, made shelter a number one priority. However, as always, that plan would always fail due to monsters suddenly appearing and attempting to eat him. How was he so sure that they were attempting to eat him, tell that to their salivating mouths. Anyway, that day was unlike any other day for him—or night really. Because whenever he would be in that kind of situation, he would just woke up as if a nightmare had happened.

But at that time, nothing worked. He tried to force himself to wake up, but to no avail. Then came the miko in red white clothing, saving him—the damsel in distress—from trouble. The miko came in like a literal wrecking ball; she suddenly had these multiple ying-yang orbs floating around her which started shooting out pellets of some sort. He did not see any of the monsters being killed or anything, it was just that he blacked out when he saw her swooping down from the sky. And after that, he woke up in his bed as if nothing had happened. Later that night, when he dreamt again, he woke up at the familiar forest, alone. However, during that time, he had the objective of finding the girl.

Long story short, he made his way to this abandoned looking shrine and turns out, Reimu was a shrine maiden working—though mostly living—there. He talked to her, asking her questions that he had desperately needed. She answered him with all of his required questions, politely too. But if he were to point out one thing that seemed rather off about her, it would be the fact that she was the definition of poverty itself. Seriously? How could someone live in such… poverty? Was this not a shrine? Were people supposed to not donate as charity? Apparently, after seeing Reimu's condition, no. He was willing to bet that people did not even know that this shrine existed in the first place.

But back to Reimu, she was so… thin! Yeah, not in a way to insult her or anything, but… just look at her! Her clothes were…fine… but they were basically uniform, not her clothing… well it probably was since he had always seen her with it every time he visited. Look at the shrine too, it's like a graveyard or something! Anyway… she was kind enough to give him the answer he needed. Turned out, he had been in a completely different world all this time. This place, or world, excuse him, was Gensokyo. Now don't bother asking him how you would write that in Kanji because he knew nothing of a place named Gensokyo. He was smarter than he was younger, so he quickly adapted to the fact that he was in fact in another world instead of his original one.

He explained to Reimu everything about him. About him and Konoha, ninjas and chakras—or at least what little facts he knew about chakra—everything. Unsurprisingly, Reimu accepted his explanation as quickly as he had accepted hers, now that he had thought about it, it was not that odd. She, Reimu, told him that it was not strange for something like to occur. But what was strange was the fact that he came in here in through a dream instead of crossing something called The Great Hakurei Barrier or something like that. He remembered her asking him if he told anyone else about his experiences, but he retorted saying 'do I look like I want to be labeled a crazy to you?' he also remembered she saying yes but he was sure that that was one of her ways to mess with him.

From that point onward, Reimu became some sort of… dictionary and encyclopedia for him to Gensokyo. He was clueless about Gensokyo…

But that happened some time ago…

Now… he had gotten used to Gensokyo.

Even if things were completely illogical over here.

"Kaji-san, I'm done with preparing the shop. Do you want me to leave the keys on the counter or inside the drawer?"

"Just put it above the counter."

"Alright!"

He did as the voice instructed. He placed the keys on the counter before leaving for the Human Village's busy morning street which was and always been crowded by its human residents. Naruto pursed his lips in mild irritation over the heat that was currently basking the entire village. Not Konoha not here… the weather will still find a way to mess with him. He used the upper side of his arm to wipe the sweat that had been gathering on the surface of his forehead swiftly. It was a good thing that he left his stuffy jacket back at Reimu's today, otherwise he'd melt already.

That jacket may be cool but it will not fit well with this type of weather.

"Oookaaay… now that I'm done with helping Kaji-san and his store, where should I go next…?" more like 'who should he help next'. Reimu told him that in order for him to survive here, he must at least have a few of this world's money. But before he start further, he'd like to remember one interesting thing. It seemed that he will bring whatever thing he had in his person before he went to sleep to Gensokyo. Yes, this was surprising. He had Gama-chan with him one time, but people won't accept his money. So, he became a freelancer. He'd do jobs which people are too scared of doing. Things like delivering supplies to the more isolated villages and remote civilization outside of the Human Village and things like that.

Speaking of the Human Village, this place is huge. Maybe as large as Konoha.

"Oh yeah, Midori-san asked me to walk her kids home today!" the blonde made the face of someone who had forgotten a very important task given to them, mainly because that was what he was having right now. "Dammit!" he turned towards the direction of the school, the main school. This large village is not a village if it lacked a form of education, right? He meant, who's going to deal with all the politics here? There is a school in this village, almost all of the children in the village goes to school there. He's glad to know that the children here are educated in a way. Well, this coming from someone who still goes to school himself was probably not as convincing as it may sound… but it'll work.

Anyway, the school was big. Huge, in fact, you could fit two Hakurei Shrines there; no offense to Reimu or any of her ancestors. He'd walk kids home several times, walked some of them to school too. This made him very popular or at least well known within some of the adults and kids. He's popular with the kids, he played with them a lot in the playground, and he was most definitely not using this chance as a way of replacing his dark and lonely childhood… okay, maybe a little. So the kids loved him, parents trusted him, this place was not as cruel as Konoha, that's for sure.

He ran with great speed to the school, passing by some familiar faces.

He was much more appreciated here instead of his original home, and he was troubled on whether that's a good thing or not. Regardless, this place was not bad… one thing was for sure though, Gensokyo—the Human Village if he were to be specific—was already some sort of second home to him, a place that existed in his dreams. The people were friendly, both types were. And that brought another topic for him to touch. Just what types of people were there in Gensokyo? Well, before he said anything, he'd like to suggest two things.

One, people who are about to hear this must throw all sense of rationality and logic out of the window.

Two, know that every question will have an eighty percent chance of being answered with the word 'magic'.

That's all. Now, where was he, yes, humans are not the only type of species to live in Gensokyo. The monsters he encountered during his first time being exposed to Gensokyo? They were actually Yokais. Now don't let him get into detail what Yokais are, it'll take four times the length of his days in the academy. But basically, Yokais are creatures different yet similar to humans in a way. Some possess traits that were are quite unique and different to humans, yet some had no problem blending in with the humans. For example, there are these famous and friendly Yokai species called the Tengu. They are human like Yokais with crow wings, there are two types of Tengu—if he still remembered what Reimu told him—the Crow Tengu and the White Wolf Tengu. Again, he won't go to details about them but that's basically it.

However, one small but important thing he noticed was the fact that both species are capable of co-existing well. They were able to get along so well that some of the Yokais are allowed inside of the village, some even went to the school he was currently heading to! So amazing ain't it? If only people back home could share the same kind of mindset here… what's more, people back home are all humans. Not all Yokais are allowed inside though. Yokais are still, for the lack of better terms, beast like creatures to the human mind. And there was also one thing that made this statement on such a high alert in the humans' mind.

Most Yokais consume humans. Yes, even the Tengus.

Consume as in they eat humans. He was a hundred percent sure that Reimu was shitting him, but she managed to convince him otherwise. Right now, he's nearly at the school's gates. Looking at the sun, it's almost dismissal time too. Huffing to catch his breath, Naruto then leans his back on the school's front gate when he had finally reached it. His short height, a fact that he had chosen to wisely ignore, made his body circulate faster, meaning blood pumps faster than all of those stuck up tall daddy long legs. He easily regained his breathing, not like he's easy to get tired in the first place.

"Oh, if it isn't Naruto-kun." Some ladies gave him a wave of their hands when they walked pass the school's gate. He responded with a similar smile and wave, still not used to that kind of attention, he did so awkwardly; getting to laugh at the sight.

"Man…" he sighed. "I can't get a break now can I…?" he said out to no one particular, simply because he was not talking to anyone specifically. The blonde haired teen, who happened to be in his thirteen years of age, rarely wondered or dozed off like what he's doing now. Maybe it had something to with Gensokyo being so peaceful? Anyway, it's fifteen minutes until dismissal hour, he got some time to kill… but by doing what exactly…? Oh yeah, chakra control exercises maybe? A simple leaf cutting exercise will do. Yup. Naruto, being someone who visited the school occasionally, found it natural to enter the school's ground and enter the playground. Before school time or after school hours, this place will be packed with kids; he shat you not, children will crowd this place like a adults crowding the markets.

Walking into the sand filled ground, Naruto observed his surroundings. The facilities were the norm even in this world. There were swings, a slide, monkey bars, a see-saw and similar sights. All in all, he's currently getting a cold splash of nostalgia hitting him right on the back of his spine. "Gaaah… look at me speaking as if I'm an old man already…" well he couldn't help it, he never really got to play a lot during his younger days so this happened. Grabbing a leaf from a nearby tree, Naruto prepared himself to do his objective in mind. A simple leaf cutting exercise… just apply chakra and then stick the leaf to his forehead.

"Yatta I did it!" he cheered at the small success.

He ceased supplying chakra to the lead, causing it to fall off his forehead with a small flutter. Naruto allowed himself to bask in pride, since this was really an achievement. He trained hard just to do that, he even asked Iruka for some extra lessons! Imagine the surprise on the man's face when he heard him said that he needed extra lessons… but seriously though, he thought Iruka was going to die from either a heart attack or happiness, maybe both. Anyway, now that he's done with his only objective, he was now left with nothing to do again.

"Hm…" he reached a hand to his pouch. He got a special permission from Iruka, the man said that he could get his ninja pouch early because he needed some extra practice with his throwing skills. To his delight, of course. The boy took out a kunai, a standard kunai still in factory condition. He rarely used these, honestly speaking, due to the fact that he'd been so occupied with his 'other' life in Gensokyo instead of practicing in his home, so… sorry Iruka. What he was about to do might be considered dangerous to people who'd never seen ninjas, some ninjas may even consider it dangerous, but he had little difficulty when it comes to doing fancy tricks with a kunai. He was the type of person to get bored easily, so doing things like twirling, throwing and even juggling his kunais were more like idles to him.

He twirled the kunai with his finger, said finger inserted to the ring on the bottom of the blade. He then launched the blade to the air, catching it with his finger again without looking. He began to do fancy tricks, occasionally using different fingers to twirl the blade with. All the while doing this, he was sporting a rather bored and stoic expression. It's a rare expression to be seen on one enigma such as Uzumaki Naruto. He'd only show this kind of face when he's either bored or tired, but mostly the former since he was not the type to get tired easily. Now, it's only a matter of time.

Speaking of time… the doors to the school were opened and kids started to storm out of the school as if it was vacation the next day. Naruto pocketed his kunai once again, just in case. He walked over to the group of kids, a smile on his face.

"Ah! It's Naruto-niichan!"

"It's Nii-chan!"

"Oh Naruto-nii!"

Yeah… kids loved him here.

Naruto was suddenly approached by a crowd of kids, some shorter and taller than the other. He waved hello at them, his friendly smile sported brightly on his face. "Hello guys! Say, have any of you seen the Kashima siblings?" he asked, leaning down to their level… not that he's that much taller than them in the first place.

"You mean Sachi-chan and Yo-baka?" one girl asked back.

"Yes, Sachi and Youtaro. Are they still inside?"

Another girl spoke this time. "Keine-sensei is probably still scolding Yo-baka for breaking that window with his ball earlier today." The young girl huffed. "Sachi-chan is unfortunately stuck with him."

Naruto frowned. Now that's not a strange scene… if he were to look back at his own history. "Is that so? Any chance that I could bail them out from their trouble? Their mom asked me to walk them home you see…"

"Aww really? That's no fair Nii-chan!" a boy whined. "I want you to walk me home too; we could catch some beetles on the way!"

"Hehehe, better ask your parents first kid. Anyway, can I bail the both of them from this Keine-sensei?" he asked again.

"You can, probably. Just tell Keine-sensei that they have to get home early today Nii-chan, Keine-sensei will understand… probably."

The blonde teen nodded his head, he then proceeded to ruffle each of the kids present here on the head. "Thanks guys, see you soon! And don't talk to strangers on the way home, okay?"

"Okay Nii-chan!" he received a chorus of reply from the kids.

God… maybe Iruka was rubbing onto him in some way… sheesh. After departing with the kids, Naruto entered the school through the entrance. This was his first time entering the school since he would usually pick them up from the front gates, so he was quite nervous. The school looked larger on the inside than it was from the outside, it's also neat too, despite being traditionally made. Wooden walls, ceiling, oil lanterns as lighting, bulletin boards from soft wood and straws… all in all, everything here were completely and legitimately traditional…except for that mini refrigerator, radio and heater. He remembered Reimu telling him that Gensokyo was linked with worlds and things like that, and that things or junks from other worlds may end up here on random occasions.

As he ventured deeper into the school, he started to notice a voice, someone… someone scolding somebody?

When he heard it, he knew that he's going somewhere.

"Youtaro-kun, do you know what you did was your fault alone?" a strict female voice asked in a demanding manner.

"…Yes Keine-sensei." A boy's voice, small and apologetic, was the answer.

"I am not mad because you broke the window, I'm mad because you tried to blame it on your sister!" the voice, definitely belonged to this Keine-sensei, increased in volume.

Naruto listened in on the conversation, and his ears picked up the sound of a little girl sniffing… crying. Naruto hid himself behind a wall, his back glued to the wall.

"Apologize to your sister, Youtaro-kun… I know that you're a good boy." Keine, her voice, had gotten softer. It was then when Naruto noticed that Youtaro had begun crying too. The sound of clothing rubbing suggested that Keine had embraced both children to muffle their crying.

Naruto hid himself well behind his cover, secretly being reminded of Iruka and the Hokage. They, aside from the Ichiraku family, were the only who ever showed him affection. Iruka would always scold him for doing pranks and foolish things, the old man Hokage was kind to provide him with allowance and the Ichiraku folks made him his very first ramen which had grown into his most favorite food. Before he knew it, he found himself smiling. Not to interrupt the moment, Naruto decided to retreat back outside until both kids were dismissed properly.

"Naruto Onii-chan!" the girl, Sachi, shouted in what seemed to be joy when she landed her eyes upon the older boy. Her brother joined in on her too, she got the opportunity to latch her form into the blonde's chest while the boy was openly marveling the blonde's goggles which he had fixed on his forehead. "Nii-chan, you're here!"

"Hey now little tykes, hold your horses." He lifted the shorter and smaller girl to the air in his arms, getting her to laugh and giggle merrily. He set her down to ruffle the older brother on his head, much to the boy's content. "Hope you two behaved well in school." He said with a knowing smile.

As expected, both of their reaction to his statement was as visible as day when they flinched. Naruto laughed at the sight, so similar to himself in many ways. "Well anyways, your mom told me to take you two kids home." He looked up, reading the sun with eyes squinted. "It's still not that late… why don't we play around for a bit?"

At this, both kids were instantly sparkling. "Really Naruto Onii-chan? We can play?" the younger of the two, Sachi, asked. Her brother joined in too. "Really? You're the best Nii-chan!"

Naruto watched as the two brothers and sisters ran toward the playground to join the other kids to play. He felt a tingling feeling inside his chest, a sensation he could not quite describe. It's a mixture of jealousy and happiness at the same time. When he saw those kids running toward the playground, he felt this something in him.

"Excuse me; are you perhaps, Uzumaki Naruto-kun?"

Startled, Naruto nearly tripped on nothing when he heard someone speaking right beside him. The blonde was now facing the school teacher, Keine-sensei. Upon further look, it seemed that Keine-sensei is beautiful… no, she was beautiful. But too bad… the hat like thing on her head was just so out of place. "Is there something on my face?" at being caught staring, the young teen blushed.

"N—No… it's just that, you're… you're very pretty…" the boy took a moment to realize what he had just said, and he's flailing his arms around after fully realizing his words. "I—I didn't mean it like that! Well, you are really pretty but, no, just… gah!"

Keine let the boy shook his embarrassment off for the moment and thankfully, he was quick in doing so.

"…I'm just making a fool of myself aren't I?"

She had to say yes there.

Naruto coughed, obviously trying to try for a better introduction. "Yes, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. You must be Keine-sensei right?" he paused, thinking. "Sorry… I kind of called you sensei on impulse."

Keine gave him a smile of understanding, her head shaking. "It's okay, I get that a lot. In fact, I'd be surprised if someone didn't." the both of them shared an awkward laugh. As both of their laughter died down, Keine did a silent inspection of the boy in front of her. Appearance wise, he's properly dressed, but a little rugged-ish on the sides. She got a feeling that he's a troublemaker, but that's probably her teacher's instincts flaring wild. "So Uzumaki-kun," she settled on calling him that. "are you here to take those two home?"

By those two, she obviously meant Sachi and Youtaro. The blonde nodded, seeing as there was nothing to hide to her. "Yeah. Their mother asked me to take them home." He explained shortly. "Since… you know… their house is kind'a far from the school, yeah?" he laughed wryly.

Keine did not know why, but she found the expression he's currently making quite adorable. "Of course, Uzumaki-kun." She giggled before responding. "It seemed that you are quite popular in the neighborhood. Strange though, considering that I haven't heard a lot about you. Tell me, Uzumaki-kun, are you perhaps an outsider?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the term she had just used to refer him as. It's not that he did not know what the term meant, he's just surprise to know that out of all of the people he'd met, Keine was the first one to vocally acknowledge him as an outsider. An outsider was a term used by the people of Gensokyo, human and Yokais alike, to refer to people who were not born or native of Gensokyo. Like him. However, his circumstances were a little bit different… okay who's he kidding with, he's definitely a special case.

Naruto visibly frowned, his head slightly lowered while his hand reached up there to scratch on a specific spot. "You could say that." Keine tilted her head at the uncertainty she detected in his voice. "To honestly tell you, I'm actually dreaming right now… Gensokyo, you and the children and people here exists only as a dream to me… but all of you felt so real. So yeah, I'm an outsider and the only way for me to enter Gensokyo is through my dreams, or in other words, sleeping."

Keine found herself slowly nodding to his explanation. To be honest, she had heard weirder things than this. But she did find it strange… what exactly, the fact that Naruto was an outsider that only appeared recently. Recently, there had not been any outsider who had happened to stumble or purposely found their way to Gensokyo. Not that it was a bad thing or anything; it's just… different in a way. She confirmed things with the Hakurei shrine maiden a few weeks back and nothing seemed to be wrong with the border or anything. It's also not that she's looking to get outsiders into Gensokyo, because she knows that Gensokyo could be a scary place and a dangerous one too.

"Really? I see…"

"What about you Keine-san, are you originally from here?"

Keine smiled, a little bit glad that he was interested in her history. "Yes. I've been living in Gensokyo for a very long time."

Naruto blinked. _'So she's a…'_

Keine noticed the look he's giving her. "Oh but I'm not really a Yokai, no. I'm a… half, actually. Half human, half Hakutaku." Her revelation was clear. "My job, aside from teaching here at the school, is to protect the village from Yokai attacks." She revealed yet another part of her which was publicly known by people.

Naruto, after hearing the last piece of information, reacted positively. "Protector? You mean like a leader of this village?"

Keine had to wonder if it was interest or glee in the boy's tone when he asked her that, maybe it's a mix of both. She shook her head in negative. "No, that is the job of the village's chief to lead. I simply teach and keep this village from Yokais who want to harm the people in it, is it weird?"

He shook his head so fast, as if he was trying so hard to deny her question. "NO! Oh no! It's cool, in fact, similar to what I wanted to be later when I grow up." He told her, smile wide. "You see, in my home, we live in a village as big as this. Though unlike the Human Village in Gensokyo, our world is ruled by… a military type of government you see. I want to be the head of my village, the guy who wears the hat and get to protect his people and friends! I'm still attending the academy though, but I'll graduate soon and I'll be one step closer to become Hokage!" he almost cheered when he said this.

Keine, slightly taken aback at his cheerfulness, had to ask. "Hokage… what's that?"

Naruto sheepishly smiled. "Oh… sorry, I got a little too excited. Anyway, a Hokage is the title of our village's ruler. He's like the village's chief except he's also the supreme commander of the military in our village. A Hokage is called a Hokage, meaning fire shadow because he's like that unnoticeable shadow that appears whenever a fire is made, it's a fancy shmancy quote or something but if I remembered correctly, it has something to do with looking over us younger generations or something. But what's cool is that a Hokage is the most respected person in the entire village! A Hokage must be strong too; I'll be strong so there's no doubt that I'll be Hokage."

The boy's enthusiasm was contagious; Keine could not help but smile alongside him. She got the feeling that he was a trouble maker, but maybe he's a cheerful little bundle of trouble. Looking at the boy made her feel so happy; perhaps it had something to do with him being so cheerful and the way he spoke. Yes, that had to be it.

"Well then Uzumaki-kun, I hope that you'll become Hokage sooner or later." The boy beamed at the kind words Keine said. "Right now however, I think that you should get Sachi-chan and Youtaro-kun back to their home." She told him in a reminding manner.

Naruto jumped in realization. "You're right! Midori-san will get mad at me if they got home late!" he was about to turn and run towards the playground to retrieve the two brother and sisters, until he remembered whatever little bit of manner he got in his heart. "Thanks for the talk Keine-sensei, see you!"

Keine waved goodbye at the running boy, her smile still present on her face. She saw him retrieving Sachi and Youtaro, who then gladly accepted his company home. She smiled wider at the scene.

"Something tells me that he'll be in trouble sooner or later…"

Oh well, she's not always right.

"Here you go Midori-san, two little boy and girl arriving home safe and soundly after school!"

Kashima Midori smiled when Naruto entered her house with her two children on his back. "Hahaha, indeed they are Naruto-kun." She watched as her children hopped off the blonde outsider's back to the floor. She was rejoined by her children who ran to her as soon as they'd seen her. Her sides were quickly embraced by both of her children.

"Mama! Naruto Onii-chan let us play before going home today!" Sachi told her mother energetically, unable to contain her childish excitement. Her older brother was also there to share her enthusiasm. "That's right mom! He even let me use his goggles on the way home, it's so cool!"

Midori gave the blonde a smile of gratitude. "Thank you for always taking care of my children Naruto-kun."

The blonde had the decency and manner to react from the thanks, something that was still quite new to him. "It's nothing Kashima-san, they're still kids after all."

"Uwaah, just you wait Nii-chan, when I'm older, I'll show you!"

"When I'm older, I'll be taller than Naruto Onii-chan!"

The last one hurt him the most but he's not going to show it, obviously.

Midori watched as her children interacted with the blonde, a sight she had come to enjoy. The Uzumaki had become someone she considered close in such a very short time. She remembered the first time she met him, so confused and lost. At that time, she instantly knew that he was an outsider. It was such a sad thing to say that outsiders weren't really taken care of in a place like Gensokyo. Even if this was the Human Village, it could still be dangerous for an outsider to roam around without knowing what to do or where to go. Midori felt nothing but pity for the boy when she first met him five weeks ago. Now, that changed. She had nothing but respect for the boy. She could tell that the boy had been through a lot despite his young age, yet he's still able to smile and be so cheerful to a point where it would influence others.

"Now, now you two. Let Naruto-kun rest, he's tired after all the things he'd done today." At hearing their mother's words, the kids let go of the blonde, much to their displeasure. From her small satchel which was tied around her waist, Midori pulled out a small sack. "Here you go Naruto-kun, this is for today and yesterday."

Naruto received the reward with great thanks shown on his face. "Thank you so very much Midori-san!" he bowed to express his joy and gratitude. "Thank you very much!"

The woman nodded; her smile serene and genuine. "Of course, Naruto-kun."

The Uzumaki truly felt happiness. It seemed Gensokyo will have a place quicker in him than he'd thought it would be. It may have been only a few weeks since his first discovery of Gensokyo, but this place was already in his heart. He bid his farewells to the Kashima, he also paid his respects to the small shrine they have for display in the living room. Apparently, the Kashima used to be a family of four consisting of a mother, father and two children. However, the father was no longer alive. The least he could do was to pay his respects like he always did.

Now walking through the streets in the evening, Naruto had one objective in mind and that is to return to Reimu. Since he had no permanent or even temporary residence in Gensokyo, he asked Reimu if he's allowed to make the shrine as his home whenever he would appear in Gensokyo. He offered payment of course, much to the girl's delight. So it became like this; whenever he'd need to crash in the shrine, he'd offer some money on the donation box. He asked Reimu about the box's name supposed to be an offering box, but she insisted.

The way from the shrine to the village's not that long… just need to walk through the forest. That's where he's worried about. The place, the forest itself, it wasn't normal… as if everything in Gensokyo's normal but this forest was scary. It's as if it had a mind of its own. The forest was also the same place where he'd find himself be whenever he woke up in Gensokyo. So due to that unfortunate fact, he was forced to know and remember the forest's route. But not that well though, both for his own safety and so that Reimu won't have to drag his dead ass back to her shrine. He troubled the poor girl enough already, there's no need for him being an even bigger bother for her. Still, he's not looking forward on going through that forest… but it's a must since he can't fly.

Flying…

Apparently, most people in Gensokyo could fly. Heh, he won't be surprised to know if Keine-sensei could fly.

* * *

"Yo Reimu, dropped a coin in the box!"

"Yeah, yeah… come on in."

He allowed himself in as per his hostess's permission. The back of the shrine is where he and Reimu lived at. Reimu slept in the room near the corner, while he was satisfied with the tatami mats and the cushions in the living room. Again, he would not want to trouble the poor girl so he'll just had to sleep with whatever little facility this place had to offer. Upon entering the back of the shrine, Naruto was greeted by the sight of two girls. Yes, two, instead of one. His defensive nature kicked in, causing his eyes to be fixed upon the stranger immediately. Said stranger noticed him too in return. The first thing Naruto noticed from the stranger was her ridiculously large pointy hat colored in black with white frills, her matching attire with the white frilly apron and dark blouse, as well as the broom that really seemed out of place leaning on the corner of the room.

"Hello there! You must be the kid Reimu's been telling me about, ze!"

Naruto blinked to register the fact that the girl was greeting him. He then snapped himself out from his surprise, quickly replying. "A-Ah… hello to you too, my name's Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo."

"Ooh! Kid's got a certain gleam to him ain't he, Reimu?"

Reimu, looking as distant and bored as she always does, sighed while not really paying the girl beside her any attention. "He's still a kid nonetheless Marisa, I had you figured for a shotacon…"

"What?!" the blonde girl with the weird hat shouted in… outrage? "I'm no shotacon! Besides, you're the girl living with a kid here!" Reimu ignored the accusing finger pointed her way by simply taking a sip from her mug.

"Hey! I'm not a kid you witch!" Naruto shouted in outrage. He's annoyed at how easily this girl was calling him a kid.

Marisa took a moment to stop her bantering on Reimu to comment on the boy, giving him a look. "You're short so you're a kid! Beat it, kid!"

"Why you…"

"Stop!" both blondes turned towards the one who had just shouted, stopping whatever advances they were making. Reimu, who was pissed but who only looked slightly annoyed, slammed an empty palm to the surface of the table; silences both blondes ultimately. "Listen here you two, I don't need two noisy blondes fighting over something stupid." She gave the youngest in the room a nasty glare, one that made him flinch. "You, you're still a kid. Face it." She then moved towards the older one. "And you. If you're older than him, then at least act like it."

"Yes Reimu…"

The shrine maiden sipped her tea, her shoulders shrugging. "Meh." Was all she said. "Anyway Naruto, I told her about your condition. About how your connection with this place is and things like that."

Despite the woman's lazy way of telling him, he understood. Naruto shrugged, finally finding a seat opposite of Reimu and the new girl. "I don't mind, I'm getting kind'a lazy of explaining anyway." He eyed the witch carefully. "Speaking of explaining… mind telling me your name, witch?"

"Heh, name's Kirisame Marisa, don't forget about it kid." At seeing her unoriginal smirk and wink, Naruto repressed the urge to openly roll his eyes. He may find her annoying, but he'd at least try not to show it. "So you're actually dreaming eh? That's cool. Never heard of someone with that kind of git before." Marisa, now that he'd known her name, turned to Reimu. "Hey, you think that Yukari has something to do with this?"

Naruto blinked, now that's a name he'd never heard before.

Reimu waved Marisa's question off lazily. "Nah, not possible. Woman's taking her beauty sleep early this summer… even if she did have something to do with this, she'd be giving subtle hints about it to me already by now." From the way they were speaking about this Yukari person, Naruto assumed that they're all close. Very close. While the two girls were having their conversation, he better put his free time to good use, and by good use he meant polishing his kit.

Taking out his pouch from its stationary position behind his waist, he brought it in front of him. He began emptying his utility pouch contents, carefully placing his kunais, shurikens, roll of titanium wire, exploding tags and storage scrolls. He's still thankful to Iruka for allowing him to get his ninja gear early. Well, it's not like he's the only who's allowed to get them early; everyone could but only with the permission of their sensei at the academy. He really needed it especially when he had a permanent condition where he'll be transported to dreams where you'll live and spend all your sleeping hour there.

The gears, the kunais especially, were really cool. He would always polish them in his free time, both in Konoha and Gensokyo. But that did not mean that polishing his kunai was the only thing he would do to pass time in Gensokyo. He'd explore some of the safer parts of the forest, help people, do chores for Reimu and help people. Okay, he really had nothing to do here other than helping people. But that's fine, it's not like something bad could happen from helping people… as long as he helped the right ones. Looking at his now polished kunai, Naruto came to a decision.

It's time to return to Konoha.

"Reimu, I'm sleeping."

"Meh. Oh and bring some of those tea leaves that you have with you when you return."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Waking up, he was now awake. The first sight he saw was his ceiling, the ceiling of his apartment room in Konoha. He peeked outside the window, cringing slightly when the fresh morning sunlight hit him in the eye. Yawning and stretching at the same time, he then walked out of bed, tidied it and finally going to the kitchen to prepare himself a small breakfast. And by breakfast he meant ramen. He made quick work of breakfast, since he had no plans on getting scolded by Iruka again. The other day was enough; he didn't want to wipe every available window in the academy. After a small and short shower and a quick change of clothes; he's ready to go.

On the way to the academy, everything's going as usual. Still the same looks given by the people around him, the whispering, the hateful glances and most importantly, the avoiding of people who was in his way. Naruto is not blind. He knew that people hated him, but for what reason, he didn't know. Not that he's saying that he's not curious as to why it's like that; he just didn't want to waste time where he could improve and train harder in order to become a strong ninja. If the people hate him, then let them hate him. Because one day, he'll be Hokage and they will respect him.

This train of thought caused a smile to form on his face. That morning, Uzumaki Naruto ran towards the academy with a huge smile on his face.

* * *

 **I had the fortunate opportunity of being introduced to this legendary fan base or series called Touhou Project. You can thank my friends for that, I'll even tell them for you.**

 **Anyway, I got curious, so, I got a copy of the 6** **th** **installment of Touhou Project: The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Upon playing, I was greeted by something that I had not seen for quite a long time. A scroll shooter game! Wow, I knew that I'll suck at this… and I was right. The fact me playing it on Easy and was still not able to beat the very first boss, Rumia, is just so embarrassing.**

 **But my nonexistent skills aside, I was awed, fascinated, amazed and other similar words to these, upon seeing the gameplay. The patterns of the 'bullets' and the way they are coming at you with the intention of messing you up seven ways till Sunday never ceases to impress me. I've played the game for a while now, now I'm close on getting to Patchouli Knowledge. (DAMN YOU FLYING TEXTBOOKS!)**

 **But the most fascinating and mind boggling thing was the music. They're awesome. I knew about Touhou when I stumbled upon this catchy sounding music called 'U.N Owen was her?' And from that point begins my exploration of something new, something entirely different. It surprised me greatly upon learning that Touhou is in fact a game, a scroll shooter game and not something like RPGs or something similar. I asked around, receiving a lot of flames for my lack of knowledge in the process, but I was able to get the glimpse of what Touhou is.**

 **For me Touhou is the prime example of why you shouldn't fuck with the wrong pussy.**

 **That is all from me.**

 **This is me, signing out.**

 **In all seriousness, I will need to ask you guys to voice your thoughts about this, so would you kindly do that by giving me a PM? Otherwise, this will forever remain a oneshot.**


	2. Chapter 2

He liked how people were so busy in the morning and completely carefree and chill during the evening. Well, who was he to say? He was basically the same as them. As soon as lessons had ended, he went straight for Ichiraku immediately. Sadly, however, Iruka-sensei was not able to join him due to some faculty meeting for the teachers back at the academy. That means he only ate two to three bowls for dinner, well, it's fine.

On the brighter side, he got a perfect grade at chakra control training today. That alone was enough to keep him happy for the whole week, unless if Iruka-sensei would join him right now and pay for his food, he would be happier. The young youthful blonde was running towards the direction of his home with a content expression on his face, completely ignoring all the looks people were giving him. Hey, he won't bother caring about what kind of things people were saying about him, because he's happy. The evening was still early, which means that it was too early to go to bed and end up in Gensokyo. Besides, he will need to prepare himself before sleeping because he knew that he will end up in a random forest somewhere in Gensokyo which would be filled with hungry yokais.

He would always make sure that he had enough kunais, shurikens, paper tags and other important supplies with him before sleeping. He figured that dying in Gensokyo is a total no-no, which would probably mean that he will sleep forever in real life with no chance of waking up! He was definitely not looking for something like that to happen to him, not even a little. Though he would be lying if he said that he was not curious… anyway, no dying in Gensokyo and even if did die sometime in the future, he hoped that things won't be as bad as he thought they could get.

But in order to not die in a place where attacks from monster like creatures were normal, he needed to be strong or 'up the ante' as what some fancy shmancy people might say. Strong, huh, now that's a vague word. However in his case, he needed to be strong in at least two types of field; defensive and offensive, which meant that he will need to learn a few jutsu and not just the three basic academy jutsu. Oh, and taijutsu, yes taijutsu was also important but only as a last resort in his case.

He's not going to charge at a mob of yokais who were out for his blood with only his fists, that's crazy! Unless if he could send out shockwaves with every punch he delivered, then he would probably do that. Unfortunately for him, he can't send out shockwaves with his punch. But fortunately for him, he did not have to make a trip to a shop today since he had everything checked earlier before going to the academy. And it's not like he'd be able to enter a shop anyway…

The boy stopped at mid run, slowly. He looked around and noticed how similar the scenery was in Gensokyo. He never experienced nighttime in Gensokyo, but maybe it'd be the same as the nighttime here… just with more yokai people walking around. He resumed his journey, albeit in a walking pace. As the sound of evening slowly transformed into that of nighttime, he hurried back home, determined to catch his 'sleep'. He may sound excited but try to see it like this; him ending up in Gensokyo whenever he would sleep was something inevitable, so he might as well find some joy in it.

After a quiet and peaceful walk, he arrived at his humble and small apartment. Okay, scratch that; this place looked like shit, smelled like one and was probably built by one. For some reason, the maintenance people won't come even after he sent them messages. He consulted the Hokage about this, but the old man's too busy to do anything about it. He kind of understood about the old man being busy most of the time, but could he not at least do something about this? He took of his sandals and arranged them neatly on the rack near the door. He got a look at his small apartment, and frowned.

If this place was any larger, he could have gotten a decent furnishing, like getting a bigger table or something like that or maybe a television. But since it is what it is, he couldn't do anything. The blonde walked over to his small kitchen and opened his fridge. "Phew… I still have milk, eggs and some meat. Good." Those three things were the most important food ingredients that he had. Ramen, however, was another thing. He could _never_ run out of that stuff. He closed the fridge door to look at a sticky note he pasted right on it. "Hmm let's see here… Reimu wanted me to bring her tea; I need to bring extra polishing oil for my kunais and apparently; I haven't done laundry. Huh… weird." Call him forgetful, but it was never wrong to rely on sticky notes in your life.

Anyway, that's about it really. He plucked the sticky note from the fridge's door and crumpled it before throwing it away somewhere. Now all that he needed to do was to get the tea that Reimu asked and do the rest that follows after. This is pretty much the routine in his daily life ever since he started to have dreams of ending up in Gensokyo.

.

.

.

"Wait… just when did I start to end up in Gensokyo?" he asked, voice seriously confused and wondering. He blinked a few times, registering that fact that he was alone in the apartment.

As expected, no one answered him. So he did not wait for any reply and continued to do his chore before preparing himself for sleep.

* * *

In Gensokyo, the shrine maiden of Hakurei—Reimu herself—yawned as she was in the middle of sweeping the shrine's courtyard. Despite the bitter fact that this place was always empty all the freaking time, Reimu constantly felt that her usual boring and monotonous everyday life was being changed slowly by the arrival of one Uzumaki Naruto. The boy was ordinary, he's human and Reimu could tell without even needing to properly look at him. A bratty kid too… she figured that he's like a younger version of Marisa, but God knows that both blondes will deny that as soon as they hear that.

She propped her broom on the shrine's wall, figuring that this was the perfect time to catch a break after three hours of courtyard sweeping. The sun was still up high, it's midday and there was always the fact that she got nothing to do other than to sweep or doing maintenance. Things were different from the old times. There are less pesky yokais or fairies to cause serious trouble; seriously, the only annoyance she would face was either Marisa or Naruto. Not so much on the kid though, since he was always helping her and bringing her some tasty treat from his world.

Reimu quickly prepared a warm cup of tea for herself and some leftover snacks. She sat on her favorite spot on the shrine's porch that overlooked the backyard of the shrine. As she was sipping her tea peacefully, she sensed a familiar presence from the distance. Ah, it looked he's here already. And true to her thoughts, a blonde haired boy came into walked out from the shrine to join her on the porch.

"You're early. Does that mean you won't need me to carry your butt all the way from the Forest of Magic to the shrine again?" the shrine maiden asked in her indifferent yet humorous tone.

A scoff. "Heh, I need to adapt quickly if I want to survive, right?" he sat next to Reimu, before proceeding to shuffle the content of his pack to pull something out. The shrine maiden got a bag of 'Tetsuo's fine tea leaves' shoved in front of her face. "Here, your tea."

With delight and appreciation, Reimu accepted it without delay. "Thank you." She set the bag of tea leaves aside for use later. The shrine maiden took a small sip from her cup and then placing the cup on a free spot next to her. "So, what are you up to today? Playing in the village again?"

The whiskered boy shrugged his shoulders. "I got some few errands to run later. You know, deliveries and whatnot? Those kinds of thing." He stretched his arms upwards like a cat before resting them again. "And after that, I need to train on my taijutsu… but it'd be hard to train without a training partner though." He mumbled softly.

"Taijutsu?"

"Ah, it's hand to hand combat basically." Naruto briefly explained to the woman who was unfamiliar with the term. "Iruka-sensei kept on telling me that mine lack form but it suits my unpredictable nature and all that."

"Hn… well good luck with that then."

"Hm."

The sound of wind breezing past them was the only thing that could be heard within the vicinity of the shrine. In mornings like this, Gensokyo tend to be quiet and peaceful. At night, however, it's quiet and dangerous. Wild yokais tend to be more active during the night because they could feed more discretely during that period. The blonde youth pulled out his pack and placed it in front of him. He dug through the contents to pull out his utility pouch. This caused the shrine maiden to take a minor interest in what he was doing, Reimu looked at the inside of the boy's pouch and was not that surprised to see sharp objects inside. He told her that he was a ninja, an assassin or at least still a trainee, so the element of surprise was not much.

What interested her, however, was the number of sharp objects he had with him. The boy had a lot of sharp pointy things stored inside; as well as some scrolls, a metal wire and are those talismans he had with him?

"Here it is." Naruto pulled out one of the scrolls inside. It's a normal looking scroll, and nothing was out of the ordinary about it in a matter of appearance. However, that soon changed when he opened the seal of the scroll and quickly biting his thumb just enough to draw little blood and then spreading it on one of the kanjis written on the scroll.

Reimu could not hide her surprise when a cloud of white smoke suddenly burst into existence from the scroll. The smoke cleared, revealing a textbook on Naruto's hand. The shrine maiden blinked many times, still trying to get over the shock. "What was that?" she asked.

Naruto looked at her and he made an 'oh right' face. "Sorry if I scared you." He apologized. "I need to read my books you know? And since I had them sealed inside this scroll over here I need to do that. Oh but don't worry though, the smoke's not poisonous or anything." He attempted to dismiss what he assumed to be worry that was currently being expressed by Reimu. "What's wrong? Was it really that surprising?"

Reimu snapped herself from the shock, quickly returning to her normal stoic state. "Quite." She then leered over to the scroll that was currently unfurled for her to see. There were all kinds of kanjis written, but most of them are books. There are also… ramen written on them? Ramen? Why ramen? "Say Naruto… that scroll, how did it do that?"

Naruto, who was reading his book, paused to look at Reimu. "I used my blood to unseal the item that was stored here?" he answered almost unsure of what to say.

"You mean… you can make the stuffs that you store appear just by putting a little blood on it?" Reimu asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, pretty much."

The shrine maiden found herself looking at the scroll as if it was a treasure of some sort. Then, an idea popped into her mind. "Aside from books, what else do you have in there?"

"I have extra gear in them and my ramen, why?"

The word 'ramen' only caused the interest burning in Reimu to burn even brighter. "You store food there?"

"Yeah…" now he was uneasy. It's rare for Reimu to express any kind of interest in… anything. To be honest, he compared her with the antisocial and broody Uchiha back home once and he could barely notice the difference. "I do."

"Prove it to me."

.

.

.

"You just want to eat ramen don't you?"

Unsurprisingly, Reimu only looked away at the accusation.

Naruto sighed. He picked up the scroll again, this time with the intention of unsealing food from it. Reimu had done a lot for him, so this could be considered as a way to repay her back. Besides, he basically used her shrine as a hotel for him to stay whenever he ended up here; giving the poor girl a cup of instant ramen was one of the many things he could do for her. He repeated the same process of applying blood on one of the many writings on the scroll and this time, what follows after the white fume of smoke, was a cup of instant ramen.

Apparently, Gensokyans were not familiar with the word 'instant'. "What's this cup looking thing? This is not ramen… but it says that it's ramen…" Reimu took a closer look at the unfamiliar object, she even sniffed it at one point.

Naruto took the cup ramen from her and gave her a wide grin. "Just wait for a few minutes and let me do the magic."

"Magic?"

"The magic of instant food~" he said in a sing song manner while walking back into the shrine. Reimu, confused and clueless as to what the boy meant, could only tilt her head with an expression of wonder on her face.

Three minutes later, the blonde returned with the same cup ramen with him. But this time, he had chopsticks with him. He offered Reimu the cup ramen, the grin still present on his face. "Here and be careful, it's hot."

Heeding his warning, the shrine maiden took the cup ramen slowly and carefully. She opened the lid and a strong, delicious and foreign aroma hit her hard right on the nose. She was taken aback at the delicious aroma that she currently smelled and the inside, there's ramen! Naruto handed her the chopsticks and he gave her a sage like nod as if to say 'go'. Reimu dug her chopsticks inside and began to marvel when she picked up strands of chewy noodles. She took first bite and everything felt good. Real good.

That day, Reimu was converted to Ramenism.

* * *

As usual in Gensokyo, he would experience the 'busy and crowded' side of the market. It seemed as if selling things were something that the people here do all day and every day. Since he was trained as a ninja, by ninja instructors; he's smart enough to use the rooftops as a mean of transportation. But that's nothing to the Gensokyans since most of them could fly like fucking ducks. Yeah, he's rather jealous at finding out that people here could fly while he couldn't. His feelings aside, he was not kidding when he said that he was greeted by a busy and crowded market. The whole market place, which was a long road itself, was full of people crowding the stands and vendors which were along the entire road. Not even Konoha was this busy… well maybe on discounts but that usually happened on the fancier stores.

He surveyed his surroundings for a while.

"Man, another hectic rush hour huh?" he noticed that there are also people who were going to their workplaces. These people probably worked on shops or the post offices. He was doing his own kind of delivery, one that involved him getting through this sea of people. "The address wasn't clear on this one." He tapped the package strapped to his back with a leather buckle; he did not know what's inside but it's damn heavy.

The address said that it's supposed to be delivered to a place right around here, but where exactly, he did not know. Anyway, it read 'Suzunaan' on the package. He tried asking around for directions, but people kept on saying that the place was just around this area. But it wasn't! He couldn't find it! After a few seconds of standing still on the roof, he jumped down to an empty spot, planning to continue his search for the mysterious place on foot.

"Suzunaan… Suzunaan… Suzunaan…"

Looking from side to side did not help him. Just what kind of place is Suzunaan anyway? The name alone was not something that he would normally hear… maybe it's a shop of some sort? Deciding that walking around aimlessly won't get him anywhere, he decided to ask around some more. He approached people asking whether or not they know about the place but all of them gave him vague answers that he already knew. He asked more than ten people already and he's just going to waste time doing that instead of trying to deliver the package itself. The blonde repeated this for many more times, only to no avail.

"Urgh… why is it really hard to find one place?" he asked to no one particular but himself in the midst of frustration. "Well, it's not like complaining will find the address magically…"

"Hey you! You the boy with the blonde hair!"

Naruto looked around the moment he heard the word 'blonde'. He looked around but he couldn't determine where the sound came from; maybe it was just his imagination?

"I'm right here blondie! Excuse me, I just need to… get… over… there!"

Naruto watched with wide eyes when a short figure squeezed its way from within the crowd and tumbled in front of him. Fortunately, she did not land on her face. The girl, clearly identified from the voice she had and the way she's dressed, struggled to her feet with panted breathing. He took a moment to get a better look at the girl, as well as giving her time to catch her breathing. She's a fairly short girl, shorter than him; now that's something right there. She was dressed in a checkered kimono and apron with 'Kosuzu' written on the front. Her eyes were a deep shade of red, hair was a mixture between orange, red and pink and her hairstyle was that of a twin tails with bells to keep them in place. She had a pair of spaghetti lace boots as footing and overall, she looked hard to miss.

The girl, in her hunched position, raised a finger. Naruto waited patiently to hear what she had to say to him.

"You… you… are… you are the guy who's supposed to deliver my package to my store, right?" in the middle of her attempt of catching her breath, this was what she asked him.

Naruto put one and two together. "Wait… this thing belongs to you?" he gestured to the package on his back.

"If it has the name 'Suzunaan' written on it then yes, it's supposed to be mine." The girl said with a final sigh, now that she had caught her breathing. She then glared at Naruto, prompting a surprised reaction to come out from the boy. "What have you been doing huh? I've been waiting for that package for hours ago!"

Naruto took a step back. He'd dealt with angry people before, but since this was a job, he couldn't just argue with a client. Iruka-sensei mentioned something about being a ninja also meant being employed in the service industry, was he safe to assume that things might go like this later on his ninja career?

"Eh… look, I'm…. I was lost you see." Naruto said slowly. "I was trying to find the address to your place but I couldn't! People kept on telling me to go here and there, and, and they kept on leading me to places! So please, I'm sorry." He expressed his most sincere apology in the form of a short bow.

But that was enough for the girl to take… maybe a bit too much. "Urk…" the girl blanched. She was not expecting him to bow like this… "Ah mou… fine, fine! Don't bow like that, you're embarrassing me…" she said. "But maaan… the least you could do is to return back to the post office to clear things up."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. He did not thought of that really.

Seeing his smile made the girl sigh, shaking her head with disappointment. "Ah forget it… anyway," The girl with bells on her hair inspected the boy before her closer, taking note of his clothing and feature. "I've never seen you around here before… are you new?"

"Kinda. I'm not exactly from here you see, actually, I'm what you people call outsiders so—" Naruto was forced to shut his mouth.

"OUTSIDER?!" due to the girl's outburst.

The girl, now with a different personality showing on her face, looked at him as if he was some sort of star. "No wonder you got lost~!" that's not something you'd say with a smile on your face… but this thought of his was unknown to her. "My name is Mootori Kosuzu. This is my first time meeting an outsider, oh boy! You have to come with me." Suddenly, she had a serious looking expression on her face.

Naruto was unsure. Technically, he could just give her the package and be done with it.

"Ah, in order for you to complete your job, you need my stamp on the paper. Unfortunately, mine's at home so if you don't come with me, you can't return with a complete delivery."

…or not.

Naruto really had no other choice. What's the harm in it anyway?

"Ta-da~ this is our family's book rental store, Suzunaan!"

Well, there's no harm in it just as he'd predicted a while ago, but there was one thing…

This place was a fucking book store. How did he know? One; Kosuzu herself just said that this was her family's book rental store and two; he could see the books displayed even from outside the store. Now he had nothing against bookstores or anything, but he did have bad experiences with libraries. Why? He blamed Iruka-sensei for this and all the textbooks that he had to read in order just to get the meaning of what chakra is. However this time, he will let all biases aside and go complete this delivery already.

"Come in, come in." Kosuzu seemed rather excited. Maybe outsiders were not that common nowadays?

Upon entering, Naruto could smell the strange and alien scent of papers in the air. The closest thing that he could compare the smell with was that one in the library back at Konoha. Still, this was his first entering the bookstore; not like it mattered anyway since this place was pretty similar looking like a normal library, he might as well look at it as being a small library then. He noticed that aside from books ranging from soft to hard covers, there were also scrolls and other form of reading medium. He won't bother checking just to make sure that he got them right.

"Please wait a minute here while I go get the stamp."

"Okay." He saw Kosuzu walking past and inside a counter located inside the store. There's a door that probably lead to the back of the store, maybe there's where she lives? He could hear bickering, talking coming from inside. So she lives with her parents… that's somewhat normal for an unordinary place like Gensokyo. Left with the only option of waiting, the blonde haired youth could not help but wonder how people with both a house and shop merged into one live their daily lives. If he remembered correctly, there's a student at the academy who also had a house and shop merged just like this… he just could not remember who.

"Still… this place is packed with books." He murmured to himself, feeling a somewhat awe-filled sensation in him. Back in Konoha, something like this will never happen. People will not just let him enter their shops or stores freely. He did not know why, but that's how it had always been. So no one could blame him for having this alien and foreign feeling in him. It's a feeling that he will need getting used to, because it's new to him.

"Sorry for the wait!" not long after he's spoken with himself, the girl returned from the back of the store with a stamp and an ink sponge in her hands. "Here, let me stamp that paper up real quick."

He handed her the paper. "Here."

Kosuzu wasted no time on getting the deed done. She stamped the papers with such force that it caused the counter to shake for a little bit. She then handed the paper back to the blonde, a smile sporting on her face. "There you go."

Naruto took the paper back, nodding. "Now that I'm done, I'll be taking my leave. See ya—" but before he could anything, a strong hand gripped him right by the collar of his jacket. Of course, it's none other than Kosuzu herself.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait~!" she half shouted half demanded. Her pigtails shuffled slightly from the action; she then let go of the blonde's collar, and then a pout appeared on her face. "Just like that? You're going to go just like that?"

The whiskered youth cannot help but sweat drop. "I need to return as soon as I can, you see…"

"Aw, just stay for a little while! This is my first time meeting an outsider and I have questions!" she asked in an almost whining manner. If she was any younger, and shorter than him, then he might've surrendered easily. But since she's not… then there's no need for him to be like that.

"Hey, don't be unreasonable…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, still holding the paper with his other free hand. "I'm in the middle of a job you see; wasting time with you is not something that I can do. Some other time, maybe, but not now." He was actually pretty surprised at how strict he actually made himself sound.

As expected, Kosuzu frowned; her shoulders dropping. "Alright… another time, then?"

"Hmm…" he made a wry look. "Sure, only when I'm not busy. Maybe… tomorrow or something like that."

Just like a top, her expression and mood made a 180 degree turn. "Good! Then I'll be waiting." She bowed politely, albeit with a hint of cheekiness coming from her smile. He had to admit; she looked stunningly cute when she made that kind of expression.

"…Cute."

"Hm?"

"….Nothing, don't mind me." He said.

Kosuzu had to wonder why Naruto looked away when he said that, but she dismissed it as simply an impulse. "Okay then, now that you're done here, shoo! Shoo and don't come back until you've finished all your jobs!" she mocked pout, arms crossed and huffing.

"Now, now… you're the one who wanted to ask me all the questions and now you're forcing me to leave?" he asked in a joking manner which could be easily identified with the overall playful tone and blinks he was giving her.

"Hmph, that's because you're too busy to do anything. Anyway, shoo! Shoo!" she gestured the 'go away' gesture at him while trying so hard to not laugh.

Snorting at her humor, Naruto gave her an equal smirk before walking away. "Fine, fine. See you later."

"Bye." Unknown to him, he missed the smile on the girl's face when he walked away from the bookstore to return and finish his job.

Well, at least the morning was not as bad as he'd expected it to be.

* * *

"Maa, sorry about the mistake Naruto-boy. I didn't specifically tell you the place, I'll need to send the Mootori's an apology too." the old head post chief apologized with an apologetic tone.

He'd just returned to the post office and was about to complete the delivery by confirming it back to the chief, but apparently, the chief decided to make things quicker and clear all the mistakes out to him. Naruto didn't really mind. Aside from the loss of time, there's also an interesting experience of finding out that Gensokyo had a bookstore of its own in the Human Village. Not to mention, all that asking around earlier today gave him a slightly better understanding at how uncaring people could get.

If that's not a good reason… he got to talk with a rather cute girl today.

"Anyway, you're done for the day. I don't know where you live, but I sure hope that you visit and help whenever you'd have some free time." The chief said with a hopeful look.

Naruto nodded, feeling a little bit appreciated. "Alright chief."

Not long later, after a few departing words and his daily pay, the blonde returned outside. Once he stepped foot outside, he reached into his pants' pocket to get a particular item as he shuffled the contents of his pocket for a while, he then managed to get what he wanted; a small slip of wrinkled paper. This is his to do list for today, figured that he might forget what he had to do so he had gone and put some little effort to make this.

He also brought out a small pen, walking away to the side of the street so not to disturb people who were walking. He crossed out the first line on the paper, which was 'Post-delivery'. He had three more things to do; picking up kids from the school, painting fences and giving out supplies to a nearby settlement outside of the human village. He contemplated for a moment. From his point of view, the last job was the most dangerous one out of the three. He might as well do that first then, besides, he was quite confident in his skills now; so maybe this will be easier than the previous supply delivery jobs.

"Gee… they might as well make me a courier." The boy said jokingly to himself, snorting once at the statement. Well, in order to start his job, he'd need to go to the market and talk with the head manager there. So without any more thinking and doubt, he quickly made his way there via rooftop. From here to the market district was not far, in fact, it's actually quite near depending on how you'll go there. There were already a lot of short cuts from the market district to the other places in the human village, so getting there via rooftops will make his job of getting there even faster.

Besides, this method of travelling allowed him to enjoy the morning, hot and busy atmosphere all around the village! Yes, there's sarcasm there. In a serious note, this place was beautiful. Even more beautiful than Konoha, if he should dare to say… probably that was just him being biased again, because the people in this did not treat him like dog feces. Not long later, after a few minutes of roof jumping, he finally arrived at his destination. The market district was a huge place, and the administration office—one that was responsible of everything business-like in the village—was here.

He located the building; not hard to miss since it was the biggest building around. The manager must be expecting him, hopefully he won't get mad at him being late.

"Naruto-kun! Where were you? You're late for more than thirty minutes!" the manager was a lanky and formal looking man. Everything about him was orderly. From the way his yukata was done, the pen he had with him tucked to his obi and the walking board he had with him. His hair was short, almost fixed and designed so that they won't get messy.

"I'm sorry Mizutani-san, I got stuck on a previous delivery!" he laughed it off with a sheepish look on his face.

The manager sighed, shaking his head. "Well, I suppose that things like that do happen from time to time. Ahem…" he recomposed himself. "Anyway, come with me, I'll show you the supplies that you will be sending. And don't forget to ask for our supplies too from the settlement chief. You're the only we know who could make things disappear and reappear with that scroll of yours, so we haven't got time to send people to get the supplies."

"Got it."

Later, Naruto sealed all of the supplies that he will be delivering inside his storage scrolls. He could not help but wonder the increase in materials like farming tools, medicinal herbs and papers. Usually, food would be most of the thing he'd deliver, if not the only one. He pocketed all the scrolls in their respective places; all that's left was to wait for orders from the manager.

"All set, Naruto-kun?" the department manager asked.

"I'm all ready to go!" he flashed the man his grin.

"Then go. And be careful!"

With a final smile, the blonde jumped in orange and golden blurs.

* * *

Usually, deliveries like the one he was currently doing took about two or three days for the people from the human village to complete. This was because there were many risks to consider. Aside from the obvious, a confrontation with a bad yokai, getting lost, injured or missing and finally, raided by a group of misfits were some of the few things that could happen to a courier. In his opinion, he'd made the people's job a lot easier since he's faster, compact and safer. Though he won't accept dangerous requests just yet, he might consider the less dangerous and risky ones; just slightly above the level that people were willing to take.

Right now, it's already dark and he'd just finished discussing things with the settlement's chief. He's unsealed all the supplies from his scroll and replaced them with the supplies from this settlement. Turns out, this settlement provides materials like lumber, stones and several other trinkets as their trade. He also had to use some of the new storage scrolls to store some of the extra things; maybe trading was the trend nowadays in Gensokyo?

"…And that's about it boy!" the settlement's chief finished reconfirming the list of items. Naruto checked the things earlier, but since he did not really know what to do or say, he just went along with whatever the chief was saying. "A pretty useful thing you got there, is that one of those magic thing?"

"Magic?" Naruto wondered before shaking his head. "No, it's not. It's… something else." He's not sure whether he should waste time talking about sealing properties with an old man.

"I see." The old settlement chief nodded. "Hey you! Give the kid some food and water for his trip back, make it quick!"

Naruto, surprised at the gesture, was not expecting that. "You don't have to do that, old man… I'll be fine; been doing this thing for a while now, so I'm confident."

"No, no, no. Nonsense." The old chief insisted with a wizened tone. "A boy like you should eat at the right time, otherwise you won't grow properly."

Naruto's hand twitched.

"Don't you know? Without a proper eating pattern, you won't grow at all? My nephew suffered from this, you see, since he always skipped breakfast and lunch but only eat on dinner. Now, he's barely as tall as the fence next to Hato's house."

The old man might not notice it, but the boy was currently hitting himself mentally. _'So that's why I'm like this…'_

"Anyway, you better return home soon my boy, tonight's a full moon and a full moon is never good for people who have night jobs like you."

Heeding the man's advice seriously, the youth nodded. "Alright." But before leaving, a nearby villager handed him a wooden lunchbox no doubt filled with food. Bringing the lunch box closer to his face, Naruto smiled in gratitude. "Thank you very much, I'll never forget this."

"We'll do the same then." The old settlement chief said in return with his wrinkly smile.

One last goodbye later, Naruto finally heads out to the dark of the night to return back to the Human Village.

* * *

The forest was dark, its ambience eerie. The night woodland critters were truly alive. For the young boy, this kind of night travelling was not that strange or new. However, this was his first time exploring the night in a full moon. This may just be his feeling but something felt… odd. It's not just the atmosphere; all senses were somewhat wrong and not right. Were the skies always this clear? Were the crickets always this loud? To be honestly speaking, he was kind of creeped out at how things were going right now. The silence was the icing on the cake.

Rubbing his eyes while in the middle of tree jumping, the blonde Uzumaki stifled a yawn. He really needed to sleep… maybe he'll sleep somewhere in the woods tonight; the safer parts, not deep in the middle of nowhere. "Ngh… I need to get there quicker…" he closed his eyes for a brief moment, allowing for a momentary rest of eyes however, when he opened them again…

"WATCH OUT~!"

"Eh?"

Is that a fucking orb of darkness coming at him?

* * *

 **Now people, look at the reviewer's section.**

…

 **Now that's what I call REVIEWS. Not just 'good job, like it, write more' thing; but actual reviews, criticism, information and suggestion that will be useful for me and this story. I would like to personally thank those who gave me these important things that I need and even to those who don't. After finished writing, I noticed that the story's progress will be slow. I hope that you do not mind since this will be something that I can't fix or control, however, I will try to keep chapters balanced and equal.**

 **Next chapter will feature Naruto's encounter with the mysterious character. And since I assume that all of you here are knowledgeable about Touhou, more than me, you all know who this 'character' is already. Anyway, on an important note, updates for 'Tough' will resume after… September 20-ish. Why so long? Well…**

 _ **Standing on the eeedge of the craaaateeeer~!**_

 **That's all for this chapter, give me PMs if you have suggestion and please show support by following or fave.**

 **This is me, signing out.**


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